Type II diabetes (non-insulin dependent diabetes) is a common metabolic disorder that is rapidly increasing particularly in the developed world. It can be characterised by insulin resistance, insulin deficiency and hyperglycaemia. Factors that are linked with Type II diabetes include elevated cholesterol, obesity and hypertension.
Type II diabetes may not be diagnosed for many years since symptoms may be sporadic and are certainly milder than those associated with Type I diabetes. However, elevated blood sugar levels in untreated Type II diabetes sufferers can lead to functional impairment of kidneys, eyes and cardiovascular systems.
Whole cells of Mycobacterium (such as Mycobacterium avium, Mycobacterium leprae and Mycobacterium bovis) have been taught to play a role in the treatment of Type I diabetes. However, such bacteria have not been implicated in the prevention and/or treatment of Type II diabetes.
For the avoidance of doubt, Type 1 Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM or T1 Diabetes) and Type II diabetes differ in origin.
Type I may be characterized by an immune attack of the insulin-producing cells in the pancreatic islets. Studies in the NOD mouse, an inbred strain derived in Japan, showed that a high proportion of NOD mice spontaneously develop Type 1 diabetes due to destruction of pancreatic islets that is mediated by autoreactive T cells and closely resembles the human disease.
Occurrence of an autoimmune disease may primarily reflect the weakness of tolerogenic responses to these self-antigens rather than an enhancement of immunogenic stimuli. In addition to tolerance mediated by cell-intrinsic responses of deletion and anergy, it has long been speculated that tolerance might be mediated by regulatory/suppressor cells that are induced by stimulation with self-antigens in the thymus.
In contradistinction, Type 2 diabetes may be caused by the failure of beta cells to compensate for insulin resistance. High-caloric diets and insufficient muscle work seem to be important environmental factors involved in the pathogenesis of obesity and Type 2 diabetes. Environmental factors seem to act via two major targets. One is the processing of glucose, fatty acids and other metabolites, as regulated by insulin and other hormones in the majority of tissues, and the other is beta cell function.
Obesity has become a major public health problem. Health conditions caused or exacerbated by obesity include hypertension, diabetes mellitus, sleep apnea, obesity-related hypoventilation, back and joint problems, cardiovascular disease, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and gastroesophageal reflux disease.
The body mass index (BMI) (calculated as weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters) is the most commonly accepted measurement for overweight and/or obesity. A BMI exceeding 25 is considered overweight, while obesity is defined as a BMI of 30 or more, with a BMI of 35 or more considered as serious comorbidity and a BMI of 40 or more considered morbid obesity.